In a major development for the Indian Army’s modernization efforts, the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) has successfully completed the overhaul of the T-90 Bhishma tank. The overhaul, which took place at the 505 Army Base Workshop in Delhi Cantonment, marks a significant achievement under the Army’s “Decade of Transformation” initiative. The event was attended by Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, PVSM, AVSM, ADC on 07 October 2024. This highlights the Indian Army’s ongoing efforts to maintain and enhance its combat readiness.
The Indian Army rolled out its first overhauled T-90 ‘Bhishma’ tank, a step towards ensuring the operational readiness of its Armoured formations. The overhaul involved stripping the tank down to the last nut and bolt and rebuilding it from scratch. “More than 200 assemblies and sub-assemblies were meticulously removed and rebuilt using precise machining and resetting techniques.” The Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, PVSM, AVSM, ADC witnessed the rollout ceremony.
Camouflaged T-90 Bhishma in exercises
The T-90 tanks have been built under licence from Russia at the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) at Avadi near Chennai. The Army, which ordered a total of 1,657 T-90 tanks, currently operates around 1,300 such tanks. The initial lot is being overhauled now. The successful overhaul of the Russian-origin T-90 Main Battle Tank, known for its firepower, mobility, and protection, was conducted by the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) at the 505 Army Base Workshop in Delhi Cantonment.
The technicians at the Base Workshop, using customised machines and test benches supplied by the Original Equipment Manufacturer, have demonstrated their technical prowess by independently rebuilding and testing the T-90’s mechanical, electronic, and instrumental. This has ensured the tank’s readiness for all-terrain operations and provided it a new lease of life. As the Army continues to advance its technical prowess during its ongoing ‘decade of transformation’, the successful overhaul exemplifies the indigenous capability to maintain and enhance critical warfighting platforms, the officials said.
The overhaul of the T-90 Bhishma was conducted by the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers.
The development comes weeks after India’s new Light Tank Zorawar, designed for rapid deployment and high mobility in the mountains, fired for the first time at the Mahajan firing range near Bikaner. The 25-tonne tank has been jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Larsen & Toubro under Project Zorawar to meet the army’s requirement for 354 Light Tanks. It was developed from scratch in two years.
The next set of trials will involve missile firing. DRDO is expected to wrap up various trials by January 2025 before the tank is offered to the army for extensive user trials. The user trials could take 12 to 18 months as the army will test the performance of the tank in summer, winter and high altitude before it can go into production. The tank is expected to be ready for induction into service in 2027.
This is an important milestone in long term equipment management. Principally every intervention must result in greater indigenisation and capability upgradation be it platform upgrades, system upgrades, or component upgrades. This is besides it’s resuscitation and life extension.
